Out of all lifts I've ever learned, the squat (and its variations) remains my most favourite, by far. From day one setting foot in the gym, I was drawn to it and felt natural with it. It was also the main reason I got interested in powerlifting. When I suffered my old serious hip injury, it rendered me unable to squat for months (deep hip flexion hurt the most) which forced me to rebuild the squat from scratch.
This thread is where I'll try to pass on what I've learned about the squat.
== Bodyweight Squat ==
I subscribe to the Chinese and FSU weightlifting systems when it comes to this. Kids who enter those schools get to squat with the stick for a very long time until they're good at it. By the time they get to the barbell, they make faster progress than most adults doing Starting Strength, because they are already so good at the basics. It's no different to any sport, really, but in the West, we are always so obsessed with getting results NOW, that BS like Starting Strength novice gain linear progression gets sold to everyone without regards to actually learning how to do it properly. If someone claims they can teach a bunch of nonathletic adults to squat correctly in 30 minutes, they're full of shit.
The very first thing I always get people who ask me for squat coaching is to get them to do a few bodyweight squats, ideally with a stick on their back or holding their arms up pretending there's a barbell. I look for basic squat mobility, depth and balance.
If you can't do a bodyweight squat to decent depth for at least a few reps, or with good enough balance (some just fall over), you have no business putting weights on your back for the barbell squat. For longevity and future gains, just stop barbell squatting for now and fix the basics first.
Ideally I'd like to see this:
i.e the correct form version, done with a stick or just an empty barbell.
If you're half way between horrible and the above, then you should start incorporating bodyweight squats in your warmups and warm downs. You'll find new gains and overcome current plateaus easily when you can do bodyweight squats like that.
There are so many mobility drills on Youtube to get a better bodyweight squat, so you should find whichever works for you. This is what I get people to do:
Goblet squats with a KB:
Cheesy as hell video, but it's from the coach who came up with it.
Grabbing the power rack or whatever as support for balance, then going all the way down. When you're down there, just wiggle around, teach your body to be comfortable with that position. Ease yourself down slowly, don't tense up, don't stretch hard, but relax into the stretch instead. Find the balance. Slowly let go of the support.
The idea is that if you're comfortable with the position and are very balanced there, you will be able to produce maximal force from it, instead of leaking power due to your body fighting against its own tension.
Do it everyday, a few times a day. Even if you're really terrible at first, you will make great improvements in 4-6 weeks. People who are too impatient to do this will still be in the same place (terrible mobility, mediocre squat) after that amount of time anyway.
== Squat Setup ==
Many times when someone asks me to watch their squat form and comment, I end up commenting on the setup - or lack thereof - instead. Without a proper setup, the entire set has no direction or consistency to comment on. Many people seem to hobble out of the rack in a random fashion then fall down the hole and wiggle back up. If that somewhat describes your squat, then you need to learn how to set up.
Fortunately, someone (a USAPL National coach) has already done the hard work, and here is the exact setup I use and teach people:
Watch it a few times.
The only thing I'd add to that excellent setup is to take little pauses between each step of the setup to clearly separate them. It will make you learn much quicker and easier to diagnose if something isn't right.
That is not the only good squat setup in existence, but it's a damn good place to start. If you learn a solid setup, you will improve straight away, and fixing any flaw you have will be easier as you now have a baseline to make changes to.
If you're curious to see more squat setup, have a look here:
and other similar videos on the IPF channel.
You'll find that most of the top IPF squatters set up similar to the above, and also precious few setup and squat like Starting Strength style. Most will have a medium-narrow stance, elbows down, head up, and squat straight down instead of sitting back and hip-draaaaaave. That will be the topic of another post though where I'll get into more details.
Like the deadlift clinic, you can ask me any squat question here as well.
This thread is where I'll try to pass on what I've learned about the squat.
== Bodyweight Squat ==
I subscribe to the Chinese and FSU weightlifting systems when it comes to this. Kids who enter those schools get to squat with the stick for a very long time until they're good at it. By the time they get to the barbell, they make faster progress than most adults doing Starting Strength, because they are already so good at the basics. It's no different to any sport, really, but in the West, we are always so obsessed with getting results NOW, that BS like Starting Strength novice gain linear progression gets sold to everyone without regards to actually learning how to do it properly. If someone claims they can teach a bunch of nonathletic adults to squat correctly in 30 minutes, they're full of shit.
The very first thing I always get people who ask me for squat coaching is to get them to do a few bodyweight squats, ideally with a stick on their back or holding their arms up pretending there's a barbell. I look for basic squat mobility, depth and balance.
If you can't do a bodyweight squat to decent depth for at least a few reps, or with good enough balance (some just fall over), you have no business putting weights on your back for the barbell squat. For longevity and future gains, just stop barbell squatting for now and fix the basics first.
Ideally I'd like to see this:
i.e the correct form version, done with a stick or just an empty barbell.
If you're half way between horrible and the above, then you should start incorporating bodyweight squats in your warmups and warm downs. You'll find new gains and overcome current plateaus easily when you can do bodyweight squats like that.
There are so many mobility drills on Youtube to get a better bodyweight squat, so you should find whichever works for you. This is what I get people to do:
Goblet squats with a KB:
Cheesy as hell video, but it's from the coach who came up with it.
Grabbing the power rack or whatever as support for balance, then going all the way down. When you're down there, just wiggle around, teach your body to be comfortable with that position. Ease yourself down slowly, don't tense up, don't stretch hard, but relax into the stretch instead. Find the balance. Slowly let go of the support.
The idea is that if you're comfortable with the position and are very balanced there, you will be able to produce maximal force from it, instead of leaking power due to your body fighting against its own tension.
Do it everyday, a few times a day. Even if you're really terrible at first, you will make great improvements in 4-6 weeks. People who are too impatient to do this will still be in the same place (terrible mobility, mediocre squat) after that amount of time anyway.
== Squat Setup ==
Many times when someone asks me to watch their squat form and comment, I end up commenting on the setup - or lack thereof - instead. Without a proper setup, the entire set has no direction or consistency to comment on. Many people seem to hobble out of the rack in a random fashion then fall down the hole and wiggle back up. If that somewhat describes your squat, then you need to learn how to set up.
Fortunately, someone (a USAPL National coach) has already done the hard work, and here is the exact setup I use and teach people:
Watch it a few times.
The only thing I'd add to that excellent setup is to take little pauses between each step of the setup to clearly separate them. It will make you learn much quicker and easier to diagnose if something isn't right.
That is not the only good squat setup in existence, but it's a damn good place to start. If you learn a solid setup, you will improve straight away, and fixing any flaw you have will be easier as you now have a baseline to make changes to.
If you're curious to see more squat setup, have a look here:
and other similar videos on the IPF channel.
You'll find that most of the top IPF squatters set up similar to the above, and also precious few setup and squat like Starting Strength style. Most will have a medium-narrow stance, elbows down, head up, and squat straight down instead of sitting back and hip-draaaaaave. That will be the topic of another post though where I'll get into more details.
Like the deadlift clinic, you can ask me any squat question here as well.
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